I’m fairly new to kayaking (5 years or so) and have always used a sit in kayak. My husband and I have a summer place in Northern Michigan and are situated on a chain of lakes. And here is where I need the SOT kayak. I’m an older woman with some physical limitations. I can get my kayak to the water, but I cannot get in and out by myself. I’ve tried and ended up hurting myself. I’m looking at several different Ocean Kayaks and have narrowed my choice to 3. 1. Ocean kayak Scrambler 11. I’m told it is easy to maneuver on the lakes and will be good for the rivers we go down too. Hopefully my feet will be able to reach the footrest, so far none that I have looked at have fit me. 2. Ocean Kayak Tetra 11 (this is a older 2013 model for cheap, it is tan and is set up for fishing) but it has a great price. 3. Ocean Kayak Venus 11, this one is my favorite but I have to sit in it to make sure I fit.
Of these three does anyone have any suggestions on how they handle or what I should look for that would benefit me? Any advice at all would be much appreciated.
Weight and Height?
If you are worried about being short , check out the venus.
Venus
I did end up buying the Venus. It fit me best of the 4 I sat in. I’m sure it will work well in the small lakes and rivers we plan to paddle on.
Jackson Rivera
I’ve paddled the Ocean SOTs, good boats, but the Jackson Rivera is better in the water, more comfortable, and easier to handle out of the water. Bought my eighty year old mom one three years ago, she has no trouble launching or recovering it. Tim
Jackson makes great kayaks but …
The Rivera is mostly made to be a stackable pool toy for resorts with flat water. I would pass on it.
Not!
The Rivera is popular with rental operations, as are the Ocean SOTs, but if you go to Jacksons website, it’s hardly marketed as a pool toy, and definitely not stackable, I don’t even know how you would physically do that, you ever seen one? However, the Ocean SOTs are quite stackable. I’ve used both on Lake Michigan, in Door county, the Rivera is a far better paddle than any of the Ocean single SOTs, the Ocean tandem is better than either, but I doubt if she wants to lug that around. Tim